


Satellite Trajectory, Guide us into Reverie

by terramous



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [7]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26478190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terramous/pseuds/terramous
Summary: The remains of what was the second floor just moments ago weren't too heavy as TK removed them but he really just wanted to get out of this crumbling building. He wasn't looking forward to when the next part of the ceiling decided to cave.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775494
Comments: 7
Kudos: 140
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star ▶ Carlos Reyes / Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand





	Satellite Trajectory, Guide us into Reverie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phantomsalex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomsalex/gifts).



> For my favourite lad Alex's birthday!! 
> 
> For the Doesn't Know They're Injured square of the Bad Things Happen Bingo
> 
> It’s not that long and not that good but happy birthday alex!! i love you and your music taste is unparalleled!!! 🎉🎉🎉

With a dreadful creak, the floor beneath TK gave way and he plummeted through the rickety staircase ravaged by flames. 

His radio crackled to life the moment he made contact with the first floor.

_"TK, do you copy?"_

TK groaned as he pushed charred floorboards off of him, taking a second for a mental note of any injuries. To his surprise, he found none.

"I'm fine, just lower down than I was," he explained into his radio.

The remains of what was the second floor just moments ago weren't too heavy as TK removed them but he really just wanted to get out of this crumbling building. He wasn't looking forward to when the next part of the ceiling decided to cave.

"Kiddo, you're really trying to give me grey hair and your old man a heart attack, aren't ya?" Judd was already grabbing TK's outstretched arm and yanking him from the scattered debris of the second floor before TK could blink.

"It was not my intention," TK explained as he stumbled a little while fixing the way his helmet sat on his head.

Judd clapped him on the shoulder. "Hurt anywhere?"

"Nope." TK rolled his shoulders back and bounced on his feet, shaking the shock of the fall from his muscles. "I'm good to go."

"Alright, pretty boy."

“Yeehaw, cowboy.”

That elicited a chuckle from Judd who gave TK a once-over despite his reassurances and TK couldn’t blame him. The entire team had been on the other side of a lot of hospital visits and he doubted they’d ever let him live a day in his life without checking in on him again. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, me too.”

❤

TK couldn’t seem to clear the haze from his eyes regardless of how much he blinked and screwed his face up. He could only press his palms to the kitchen counter and wait for it to pass. 

But it could never be that easy.

A rush of dizziness flooded his senses, the only thing keeping TK upright was the counter and how much he didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of Carlos’ kitchen. The waves of nausea rolling over him didn’t make it any easier, Carlos’ name was on the tip of his tongue, waiting for him to call out for help. The officer was only in the other room, he would eagerly come to TK’s side but there was something preventing the words from leaving TK’s mouth. He didn’t want to see the worry in his boyfriend’s eyes, he didn’t want to be a burden.

“How’s your kitchen endeavour going so far? Should I get 911 on speed dial in case you burn down my house making coffee?” Carlos called as he sauntered back into the front of the house. 

TK wanted to respond with a quip of his own, but his tongue felt like a lead weight in his mouth, he couldn’t even find the strength to raise his head. 

Something was wrong, and getting worse with each passing second as much as TK hoped it would ease up if he tried to wait it out. 

“TK?” Carlos asked, his voice softening considerably. He sounded like someone approaching a wild animal, trying not to startle it. “Are you okay? You’re looking quite pale.”

“I’m- I’m okay,” TK said, entirely unconvincingly.

“Are you sure? Do you need to sit down?”

TK shook his head, but as it turns out, that was a mistake. A whiteness blanketed everything, coating all his senses in nothingness like a thick sheet of snow encasing him as a chill swept down his spine. 

The next thing TK knew, he was flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling. 

“Hey, TK, how’re you feeling?” That was Carlos’ voice somewhere close to his head. TK couldn’t turn to look at him, the pain radiating throughout his skull keeping him firmly locked in place. 

TK could only open his mouth slightly before the pain became too much, a strong pressure on his jaw that he couldn’t remember being there before he dropped. “Ow.”

He wasn’t sure what he expected, but Michelle looming over him with a soft smile was not it. “Take it easy. You definitely have a concussion” 

“Hurts,” TK whined, not concerned about how pathetic he both looked and felt. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that if Michelle was here, the rest of the 126 were probably standing somewhere outside of his line of vision. 

“I know. Can you tell me your name?” Michelle asked as she assaulted TK’s eyes with a penlight. The light sent pain like a lightning strike throughout TK’s skull and he couldn’t help the groan he let out. 

“TK Strand.”

“Can you tell me what day it is?”

“Monday?”

"It's Wednesday," Carlos supplied, his lips pressed into a firm line.

“Do you know what happened?” 

“My head hurt and I fell. It hurts more now.” The words were getting jumbled in his head, as if his brain had been taken out, fed through a blender and poured back in through his ear.

Michelle nodded a little. “You must’ve hit your head on a call earlier today, and you managed to take your chin out on your way down just now. You’re gonna need stitches.” TK finally realised what the pressure on his jaw was, gauze pressed to a bleeding wound. 

"Accident prone," TK mumbled, not sure that his words were even decipherable.

"I'll say."

"You said you were fine after falling through the floor earlier," Judd’s gruff southern drawl came from somewhere else in the room.

Carlos' worried expression turned bewildered. "You fell through a floor?"

"It didn't hurt," TK argued, "I didn’t know anything was wrong."

"Only TK Strand could concuss himself and not notice," Michelle supplied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

❤

"A concussion just shy of severe, three staples in the back of your head, and seven stitches on your chin. What an eventful day for you," Carlos said as he handed TK a glass of water and a few pills.

"Just another day in the life of me.”

“Well, maybe you should try taking it easy for a while. You need to rest.”

TK generally didn’t like being coddled or catered to but the careful way Carlos cupped the back of his head and guided the glass to his lips, made TK feel some sort of way. It was a bright and warm sensation, one that made him want nothing less than forever with Carlos.

“Thank you.”

Carlos' eyebrows knit together in confusion. “For what?”

“For being here.”

TK couldn't help leaning into Carlos' touch as his boyfriend trailed his fingers along his cheek. “Darling, there’s nowhere else in this world that I’d rather be than by your side.”

"You're a sap."

"And you're concussed. You need to rest, I'll just be in the other room if you need me." 

"No. Stay." TK grabbed Carlos' wrist where it hovered close to his face, preventing Carlos from pulling away. Carlos’ eyes were a storm of emotions, the easiest to read being concern. It seemed to be permanently etched into Carlos’ features today.

"You're recovering, you'll sleep better on your own."

"Please?" TK asked with a pout. He didn't care how he looked, he was going to get what he wanted.

"Alright, as long as you promise to sleep."

"I promise." He even lifted his hand with his pinky extended. For a moment he was a kid on a playground, making Carlos promise him they'd be friends forever.

Carlos smiled and looped his pinky finger with TK's. "You're such a dork."

"Absolutely, and you love me for it."

"There's no one I could ever love more," Carlos whispered, leaning down to swiftly press his lips to TK's. 

As they parted, Carlos rounded the bed and climbed in next to his boyfriend, reaching across TK to turn off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness that eased the strain on TK's eyes.

He didn't bother to climb under blankets but tucked them up to TK's shoulders as he lay down. TK had other plans and snaked his arms around Carlos' waist as he pressed his ear to his boyfriend’s chest.

It might’ve taken a few unfortunate events to get to this point, but TK wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sure, his head was killing him, but he was here with Carlos, reassured a million times over that Carlos would stay by his side. Even if it meant blood all over his kitchen.

And bed rest would be far too boring on his own.

He could hear the steady thrum of Carlos' heart, it’s gentle rhythm lulling him to sleep like waves lapping at the shore. Carlos brought his hand up to rub TK's shoulder, the repetitive motion easing any remaining tension from TK's body. 

"Sleep well, I'll wake you in a few hours." 

TK fell asleep with a smile on his lips and Carlos tracing shapes on his skin.

**Author's Note:**

> title from: all time low - so long soldier
> 
> [tumblr](https://terramous.tumblr.com/)


End file.
